"Florida is a Spanish possession, is it not?"
"Yes, it is." Kelly reached for a mango, picked up on a recent stop in the Bahamas. "But the United States has its eye on adding the Florida lands to their cache, securing their southern coastline. Spain is weak, and there are sharks who see this as an opportunity to increase their own wealth."
"It's those damned—pardon me, ladies—slave traders who are the worst!" Captain Starke, a staunch member of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, said fiercely. "Florida is where blacks are smuggled in to be shipped into the United States, and everyone turns a blind eye to it! The Spanish get rich in bribes off the blackbird trade, and the American government is too sniveling to chastise its Southern landowners. That kind of lawlessness and lack of civic and martial oversight breeds a situation ripe for evildoing!"
"The war is over. Can the Royal Navy not protect British merchant ships?" Sophia said. "Surely the pirate ships are smaller and carry less crew and arms than the navy?"
"The difference, Miss Deford, is the privateers are largely merchant seamen who've become pirates legitimized by their spurious letters of marque," Kelly said. "And a merchant captain knows the sea lanes and coast better than a naval captain, giving them an advantage when they strike and attack. They know where to sniff out their prey, because they think and sail as we do, not as a naval officer does."
Traveling in convoy was no longer required with the war ended. Starke, his crew and his passengers knew they took a chance traveling alone, but the opportunities to increase business post-war were too enticing, and the merchant captains depended on their own skill, the occasional naval ship on patrol, and luck to get them safely into port.
Mrs. Knott also made it her business on the voyage to promote the joys of remarriage to "Mrs." Deford.
"Though I must say, Sophia, I find myself sometimes envious of you. I long to see my dear Mr. Knott again, and look forward to being reunited with him, but you have a great deal of freedom to come and go without worrying about what your man expects of you."
"It is because I have money in my own right that I have this freedom, Mrs. Knott." Sophia put down the gothic novel she'd been reading in their cabin as a squall lashed the ship. "A woman who is financially dependent on others is at their mercy. Miss Johnson and I worked hard to build up the book shop, and I am glad I have this opportunity to see some of the world thanks to our efforts in Portsmouth. I am especially enjoying traveling while not being at the beck and call of some demanding male person who thinks he is in control of my life because he holds the purse strings." She looked out the window into the stormy night. "At the moment though, I am most excited about this rain allowing us a good wash tomorrow. Mr. Kelly said the barrels would be fully replenished after this downpour."
The next day there was plenty of fresh water for washing, but the Primrose hadn't escaped injury during the squall. Sophia was strolling on deck, enjoying the rain-washed fresh air and watched the captain and the carpenter examining the ship's foremast, sprung and listing to port.
"Can you mend it?" Starke asked with a worried frown on his face.
"Aye, and with luck it will hold," the carpenter said confidently, and Sophia watched as they prepared the mast and took some curved pieces of wood, the "fish," lashing them to the mast and straightening it. When they were done the mast stood tall again, but it bore a disturbing resemblance to a splinted limb.
That night after supper, the passengers and officers played cards and the ship's company assured Sophia a mended mast was a normal event on the ocean, and they'd weathered similar situations with excellent results, so Sophia turned back to concentrating on the pasteboards in her hand. She never thought she would be able to play cards for the sheer pleasure of the game and the conversation made over the card table. When the outcome would not affect whether one had sufficient funds to purchase groceries or firewood, it was possible to enjoy cards as a passing entertainment.
Now Captain Starke said they would likely spot Florida by the late afternoon, and as Sophia took her daily walk around deck, she thought she detected a hint of greenery on the western breeze as the land of flowers beckoned to them, sending out tendrils of seductive, lush foliage to lure them to its shore.
Her poetic musings were interrupted by the call from the sailor aloft.
"A sail, Captain!"
Sophia shaded her eyes and looked in the direction the sailor was pointing, while Captain Starke went to the rail and took out his glass. The ship bearing down on them had the wind and was a schooner rigged fore-and-aft. This wasn't a good sign, since schooners were the favored vessels of—
"Pirates!" the lookout yelled, as the false colors of Spain were run down and an unknown pennant run up in its place.
"Are we going to fight?" the mate asked the captain. They hadn't noticed Sophia standing behind them. She knew she should go below, but she felt compelled to stay up above where she could see what was happening.
"You know who that is, don't you?"
"Aye," the mate sighed. "It's the Jade. We'll never outrun him with that foremast."
"We will do what we can, Mr. Kelly! I won't give over to the likes of him without making an effort."
Over the next hours the Primrose gamely tried to outrun its pursuer, but the Jade had the advantage, its rakish lines cutting cleanly through the waves, driving it ever closer to the merchant vessel.
"Mr. Kelly? What is going to happen to us?"
The mate looked around and saw Sophia behind him.
"I am afraid, Mrs. Deford, we are going to be caught by that Yankee. But I know of Lucky Jack Burrell, and I do not believe we will
come to harm if we do not resist."
Sophia felt her heart give a funny jump.
"Did you say 'Lucky Jack Burrell'? Could his given name be 'John Burrell'?"
"Aye. An American privateer, owner of the Jade," he said, gesturing at their pursuer. "He attacked British ships with an American letter of marque during the war, but now he sells his services as a privateer to the highest bidder."
"But England is not at war with anyone anymore!" Sophia protested.
"A legal nicety isn't likely to stop a damned pirate—your pardon, Mrs. Deford. If you will excuse me, there is much I need to do. I suggest you go below and pack your bags."
Sophia was startled.
"Pack my bags?"
"There is always the possibility if we're boarded the Yankees will take the Primrose as a prize and put us off. That is less likely with passengers aboard, but it is good to be prepared."
"John Burrell," Sophia murmured to herself. "What are the odds?"
As the schooner drew ever closer, even a land dweller like Sophia knew they would never make an escape from the Jade. Nearly simultaneously, the mended mast gave out, the crack of the splintering wood echoed by a blast from the bow chaser on the schooner. The splash of yards and sheets over the side pulled the Primrose sharply to starboard and the cheers of the pursuing pirates rang across the water.
The schooner came ever closer, and when it was within hailing distance a man with a horn called over that the Primrose should heave to and prepared to be boarded. Boats were soon dispatched from the Jade to the Primrose under the eyes of the Jade's crew, sailors armed with muskets and rifles in the rigging and the run-out ships' guns offering a grim reminder of what could happen if the Primrose resisted.
Sophia watched with interest as the privateers came aboard. They didn't look much different from the crew of the Primrose, though they were festooned with more weaponry and gold than the sailors, most of them sporting an earring or medallion. Some of them eyed Sophia curiously, but did not approach her, and one or two gave her a polite nod.
It was the last man to come aboard who caught and held Sophia's eye. He was trim and lean, wearing a white shirt opened at the neck beneath his bluejacket. His sun streaked hair fell forward and obscured his face, and he was laughing at something one of his mates said to him.
Then he turn
ed in her direction and the sun caught him full on his browned face, one eye covered by a black patch.
Sophia struggled to breathe and she said a word that would have earned her a slap on the ear from Annie Johnson. She shakily turned to go below to the relative safety of her cabin.
"Stop where you are, miss."
The voice from the rail made her blink in dismay. She'd been correct. Sophia stopped, but she didn't turn around. She did hear the footsteps come up behind her, and then a hard hand was placed on her shoulder and she was turning into the light to look up at her captor.
The privateer captain studied her for a moment, put his hand under her chin and raised it until she was looking up into that single hazel eye.
"Miss Sophia Deford. What are the odds?" said her highwayman.
CHAPTER 5He held her gaze a moment longer, then his lips curled up. The smile made Sophia want to take a step back—all the way back to England—but she held her ground and donned the face that saw her through many a late-night game of cards.
"John Burrell, I presume? I have a letter for you."
"What?"
"If you are John Burrell of St. Augustine, East Florida, I have a letter for you from England," she repeated, speaking slowly and distinctly. "It is with my belongings, and I will fetch it."
He stared at her, and she could see a host of expression in his green-tinged eye, none of it boding well for her.
"A letter," he said softly. "You have a letter for me you have brought all the way from England. Do you know, Miss Deford, in all the many daydreams I had over what I would do to you if we ever met again, your acting as postmistress did not enter into a single scenario? But that is neither here nor there. Right now, I have a ship to plunder."
"When you see the contents of your letter, you may feel more pleased about seeing me again," Sophia brazened out.
"I doubt that. I doubt that very much, Miss Deford."
"Crawford!" He called to a passing pirate. "Keep this woman under guard until I can deal with her. Do not let her out of your sight."
The sailor looked startled by these orders, but only said, "Aye, sir," and took up a stance next to Sophia as Burrell stalked off. When she started slipping closer to the passageway, Crawford said, "Please don't do that, miss. I don't want to hurt you, but I have my orders." He looked regretful, but he also looked as if he was willing to do whatever he was ordered to, and Sophia stood still. The sun beat down on her, exposed on the deck, as she watched the busy activity of the ship's cargo being stolen.
"May I at least go stand in the shade while your captain decides my fate?"
Crawford nodded, and took her arm to lead her over to a coiled cable shaded by an awning where she sat down to watch the activity unfolding around her.
The privateers attached bumpers to their ship and brought the Jade alongside the Primrose, and Burrell and his crew removed boxes, crates, and parcels with the efficiency of men who had done this task many times in the past. The last item to be brought above was a strongbox from Captain Starke's quarters, but when Starke protested, Jack Burrell only looked at him and said, "You have some of your cargo, Starke, and a ship. Do not push your luck."
Starke's protests subsided, but he still looked unhappy.
"There is one more piece of unfinished business I have to deal with, Captain Starke," Burrell said. He walked over to Sophia and leaning down, took her by the arm, pulling her to her feet. "Let us fetch this mysterious letter, Miss Deford."
"Here now," Starke protested. "Unhand that lady, Burrell!"
"This lady is an old acquaintance of mine, Captain Starke," Jack said, not taking his eye off of Sophia while he spoke.
Captain Starke started to protest again, but Sophia put her hand out.
"Let me go with him, Captain Starke. Burrell—"
"Captain. Burrell."
Sophia looked at the pirate and then back at Captain Starke.
"Captain Burrell and I do know each other, Captain Starke. And as he says, we have unfinished business."
Burrell manacled his hand around her upper arm and pulled her alongside him, but preceded her down the ladder to the lower decks.
Sophia wished her ankles weren't on display before the pirate as she climbed down herself, but there was nothing for it. He waited at the bottom of the ladder, watching her.
And there was no patch over what appeared to be a perfectly fine eye.
"What happened to your eye?"
"My eye is none of your concern. Which cabin is yours?"
Sophia led him to her cabin and he followed her in, ducking his head beneath a deck that gave her plenty of clearance, but left him close to stooping.
"Where is this letter, Miss Deford?"
Sophia thought of stalling, but did not think it would accomplish much. She went to her small trunk, the one with her personal items, and under his watchful eye pulled out a document sealed with red wax. On its face was the same bold, black handwriting that covered her letter from Erasmus Tanner.
Burrell broke the seal, read the letter, ground out a string of words that would have earned him a clap on both ears from Annie Johnson, and then looked at Sophia.
"Give me the document Captain Tanner gave you, and I will let you go unharmed."
Sophia took a deep breath. Now was the point where she leapt into the unknown.
"I cannot do that. You can meet with me in Florida and we will talk there."
In a move so fast Sophia barely saw the gleam of metal, a knife whizzed past her ear and thudded into the bulkhead behind her. She locked her knees and hoped he was not carrying another knife.
Jack Burrell was watching her eyes, his own almost black in the dim cabin.
"I do not have time for this nonsense, Miss Deford. Give me what Tanner gave you, or the next throw will not miss."
Her mouth was so dry she wasn't sure she could speak, but she held his eyes with hers.
"You just read a dying man's last request to you, calling on a debt you owed. Are you so without honor you ignore his letter and threaten to rob and kill me?"
"Honor? You hit me from behind, stole my horse and my money, apparently opened and read my mail, and you prate to me of honor?" He watched her a heartbeat longer, then his eyes narrowed. "Very well, Miss Deford. It might be more entertaining to extract the information out of you at my leisure after all. This has been a dull voyage."
The sounds of busy privateers abovedecks mocked his words as he retrieved his knife, but before Sophia could frame a reply, Burrell grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder, exiting the cabin and climbing up the ladder without breathing hard.
As Sophia was jounced over a shoulder that felt like iron, she tried not to give up her lunch, but held fast to one thought. An hour ago she would have said the last place on earth she wanted to be was in proximity to the highwayman she'd robbed, but now that she knew he was John "Lucky Jack" Burrell, all had changed and a new game was underway. A game with high stakes indeed. She silently cursed the late Captain Tanner, who was no doubt laughing in Heaven...or more likely in someplace much warmer.
"Crawford!" Burrell called out as he came into the light and put Sophia back on her feet, again manacling her upper arm with one hand.
"Aye, Cap'n?" the squat pirate said when he joined them.
"Retrieve the two trunks and anything else you find in Miss Deford's cabin. Take them aboard the Jade, and put them in my cabin."
Crawford looked at Sophia, then said, "Aye, Captain,"
Sophia looked up at her captor. Lucky Jack's eyepatch was back in place, adding to his piratical appearance as he said in a voice for her ears alone, "Cooperate and do not cause trouble, Miss Deford. It is a long swim from here to the Florida coast."
"You may continue your voyage, Captain Starke," Burrell said, raising his voice. "Miss Deford will come with me aboard the Jade"
"Now look here, Burrell, you can't take passengers off my ship!" Captain Starke blustered. "Especially if you wish to maintain this fiction that you
are a legitimate privateer!"
"During the war the United States paid twenty dollars a head bounty for British prisoners." Burrell released Sophia, reached into his pocket and looked at the currency in his hand. "But that was for fighting men, and the war is over. I'd say the price for Miss Deford would be more like...five dollars. And I'm feeling generous today."
He held out the coins to Starke.
"Surely you're worth five dollars, aren't you, Miss Deford? Captain?"
Captain Starke got red in the face, and Sophia felt her own face heat, but she kept her temper under check.
"This is outrageous, Burrell! I cannot stand here and see Mrs. Deford insulted this way!"
"Mrs. Deford? Did you marry a cousin while I was gone?" Jack Burrell said to her before raising his voice a notch. "Of course you can stand there and not interfere, Captain Starke, because the alternative is for me to do a great deal of damage to your ship and maybe kill some other passengers and crew. What is one chit's life against all that?"
"You claim your letter of marque covers your actions, but I remind you, sir, you have no legal right to remove passengers from my ship!"
"I have every right, Captain Starke, if I believe Mrs. Deford to be a threat to"—he glanced over at the Jade to see what flag was flying— "Cartagena. Knowing her as I do, I wouldn't be at all surprised if she is a spy or some agent of destruction."
Captain Starke, to his credit, began to insist again, but Sophia knew this would not end well if she did not do something.
"I am going with Captain Burrell of my own free will, Captain Starke," she said. "He and I know each other from times past, and as he said, we have unfinished business."
The look Jack Burrell gave her was supposed to leave no doubt in Starke's mind as to the nature of their business together, but Starke ignored him.
"I cannot like this, Mrs. Deford, but if you insist on going with Burrell..."
"I do, Captain," Sophia said tightly. She saw the other passengers staring at her and talking amongst themselves. They'd all seen and heard the conversations between her, Burrell, and Captain Starke as they huddled together on the deck. Lucy Knott wouldn't meet her eyes, but looked away, and she heard some low muttered comments followed by guffaws from some of the male passengers.
The Bride and the Buccaneer Page 3
